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RENO, USA (Aug. 16, 2015)
– Playing its second five-set match in as many days, the United
States came out on the winning side on Sunday, defeating Puerto
Rico, 25-21, 25-15, 22-25, 28-30, 15-9 at the Pan American Cup
at the Reno Event Center.
The United States (2-3) will play Mexico (1-4) at 3 p.m. on
Sunday in the fifth-place match. Puerto Rico (0-4) will play
Dominican Republic (1-4) for seventh place.
The U.S. men’s team may have been a little dejected after losing
a five-set match to Canada late on Saturday, which took them out
of the running for a medal. But they did not show any signs of
fatigue in the first two sets, running away with wins.
But Puerto Rico stepped up its level in the third and fourth
sets and the U.S. did not adjust. The U.S. took a 6-5 lead in
the fifth set, then used a 4-0 run behind the serving of Greg
Petty to secure the lead and went on to win.
The U.S. led in spikes (69-58) and blocks (13-7). Puerto Rico
led in aces (4-3) and scored on 31 U.S. errors while committing
30. The United States’ hitting efficiency was .441 as compared
to .279 for Puerto Rico.
Opposite Ben Patch led the United States with 22 points on 21
spikes and one block. Outside hitter Cody Kessel added 15 points
on 13 attacks and two blocks. Middle blockers Bobby Walsh and
Jeff Jendryk and setter Graham McIlvaine each had three blocks
for the U.S.
Puerto Rico opposite Maurice Torres led all scorers with 26
points on a match-high 25 spikes and one block. Middle blocker
Jessie Colon scored 12 points on eight spikes, three blocks and
one ace.
Puerto Rico captain Edgardo Goas
“This is the first time in the tournament that we started
playing well. We found a little chemistry at the end so that’s
always good. Our opposites started to get in a rhythm which was
great to see. We definitely feel a lot better after this match
even though lost. It is what is, now we move on to the Dominican
Republic.”
Puerto Rico head coach Abdell Otero
“We brought in new guys that brought good energy and good vibes.
We fought until the end and we played better than in the other
games. That’s the way it is. We will move forward with our good
energy and keep playing good volleyball.”
U.S. head coach Jeff Nygaard
“We were getting away with some stuff early and I don’t think
the motivation was good for either team and so we were able to
do really well. As is with all of the situations of these games
there’s a lot of pride and there was an uptick. They had their
moment where they became passionate, started hitting harder and
had success so it was on us to respond. We were pleased to take
away in that one.”
U.S. Captain Greg Petty
“Puerto Rico picked it up. I felt like they were kind of asleep
in the first two sets and then they started playing a lot better
and we were really slow at adjusting to what they were doing. In
the fifth set we played our game and had it rolling. We put
pressure on them and made them play our game.” |
